Winter Bird Watching in ForsytheNational Wildlife Refuge in New Jersey

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Many pintails in Edwin B. Forsythe (Brigantine) National Wildlife Refuge in New Jersey coast. Three of them are standing on ice. Many others have tails up and heads down in the water eating something.

镜冠秋沙鸭，雄鳥頭上有若帶一頂黑白色的大帽子。

A hooded merganser

Closer view of some of the brants

冬天成千上萬從北部飛來的候鳥聚集在這裡海灣上， 優遊自在過冬。

Huge number of brant and other winter waterfowl in this National Wildlife Refuge, some are white colored and many others are dark colored.

Many swans

朝夕相依

A pair of common mergansers

形單影隻

A heron

A heron in flight

A closer view of a pintail

A hawk (Northern Harrier) hunting in this area.

A group of bufflehead's

A group of black ducks.

Female hooded merganser

More swans between ice sheets. Some swans also have their heads down in the water eating something.

A hawk on the tree.

淩空飛起

Hawk in flight

夕陽無限好, 日落前的色彩是最迷人的， 開闊視野，滌蕩了胸襟， 久久不願離去。

A sunset view at Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge on March 8, 2009.

依依晚情，形影不離

A pair of mallards

夕陽西下，成群結隊的大雁低飛歸巢， 形成一幅夢幻般美麗的畫卷。

After sunset, many waterfowl are in formations flyiing back to their evening roosting place.

夢幻黃昏， 天鵝優游自在湖中。

After sunset, some swans are sleeping. It is amazing that they float and sleep comfortably on the icy cold water (on February 4, 2009).

1. From Garden State Parkway South Bound, (just after going over Mullica River Bridge) take Exit 48 to get on Highway 9 South2. Stay on Highway 9 South for several miles until you reach the traffic light of intersection of Highway 9 and E. Great Creek Road3. Turn left into E. Great Creek Road (East bound).4. Continue on E. Great Creek Road for about one mile all the way to get into Forsythe (Brigantine) National Wildlife Refuge (NWR)5. Continue to the entrance of NWR. There is a parking lot with restroom and drinking water facility near entrance. Pay your fee at the Fee Station then drive onto the 8-mile, one way, rectangular loop of unpaved Dike to enjoy bird watching on both sides. (Senior people with Golden Age Pass can enjoy FREE entrance to all national parks, national recreation areas and national wildlife refuges in USA. Senior people can get a Golden Age Pass by paying $10 only once in any office of any national park throughout USA.)

Where to Eat: After touring Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, some visitors may be hungry and looking for a place to eat. Smithville Square Shopping Center off Route 9 is only about 2 or 3 miles north of Edwin B. Forsythe (Brigantine) National Wildlife Refuge. It is at the southwest corner of Intersection of Route 9 and Smithville Blvd. There is a traffic light at this intersection. The entrance to Smithville Square Shopping Center is from Smithville Blvd. There is a Foodtown Supermarket, a Chinese Restaurant (King’s Wok Gourmet Chinese Restaurant, Phone: 609-748-1911/1935 ), a Pizza Restaurant, and other stores in Smithville Square Shopping Center. The street address of Smithville Square Shopping Center is: 45 South New York Road (i.e., Route 9), Smithville, NJ 08205.

On March 11, 2011, I visited Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area in Pennsylvania, USA and saw huge number (about 50,000 according to the Visitor Center) of snow geese in action as shown on my Travelogue web page at:

Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge at Brigantine is a few miles north of Atlantic City on New Jersey coast. The Refuge's location in one of the Atlantic Flyway's most active flight paths makes it an important link in the vast network of National Wildlife Refuges. It has an 8-mile Wildlife Drive (Loop) for visitors to drive their own cars to enjoy watching large number of many kinds of birds on both sides of the Drive. We toured this National Wildlife Refuge on March 9, 2008, February 4 and March 8, 2009 and February 3, 2012 for winter bird watching and photography.

This National Wildlife Refuge is open all year around. In different season, one sees large number ofdifferent kinds of birds.

However, in the summer season, some National Wildlife Refuges may have many mosquitoes and other insects because of wetlands and abundance of water. To prevent mosquito/insect bite, the visitors in the summer season may need to wear long pants, long sleeve cloth and head net. A head net usually covers the entire head including head, face, ears, neck and the hat. Such head net is inexpensive in the order of a few dollars and is available in many sport wear stores. The mesh size of the head net should be sufficiently small such that mosquitoes and other insects cannot get in.

Some visitors simply stay inside the car with doors and all windows closed and with air condition on in the summer season and drive slowly along the 8-mile Loop to watch wildlife on both sides of the car.

Group of large number of shorebirds in flight

We also saw a hawk and an owl fighting in the air, but I was driving my car at that moment and did not have my camera in hand to take such action photo.

Another sunset view at Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge on February 3, 2012. With no clutters of telephone poles, electric wires, building obstructions, etc., the wide open space in such wildlife refuges often offer spectacular sunset views or sunrise views, especially with water reflection, for nature lovers to enjoy.

A section of the 8-mile Wildlife Drive (Loop) in Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge.